Lylie Joel

RUPARA – The Rupara Health Centre in the Musese Constituency of the Kavango West Region is operating without a permanently stationed doctor, leaving the facility to rely on doctors who visit once a week.

Registered Nurse and acting nurse in charge of the health centre, Chrispinus Kanyetu Kanyengo told Nampa on Monday that the centre depends on doctors who visit from other towns, usually on Wednesdays.

“They arrive late and are tired from other clinics. By the time they get here, they are exhausted, and the quality of care is affected,” Kanyengo said.

He said the facility sometimes faces queues of 80 to 96 patients on the days when visiting doctors are available.

The health centre serves approximately 12 850 people but operates with limited resources. Kanyengo said the maternity ward has only two beds, forcing staff to use general wards to accommodate postnatal patients when beds are full. “We need a dedicated maternity unit and staff, so mothers have privacy and safe care,” he said.

Kanyengo stated that a new maternity building under construction should help address the space shortage once it is completed. The facility faces several infrastructure challenges that worsen the doctor shortage issue. The centre has no ambulance, and the backup generator is broken, leaving it vulnerable during power outages. Staff rely on cellphones for communication as there is no landline.

Housing for staff is also inadequate, with only three houses available, forcing some nurses to rent accommodation in the community.

Kanyengo said the structure for a doctor post already exists at the establishment, but recruitment and budgeting delays have prevented the appointment.

“If the means were there, the post could be filled. It’s a budgeting and HR issue,” he said.

He called on the government to fill the permanent doctor post and ensure the human resources budget matches the facility’s needs. 

Kanyengo also urged the ministry to repair or replace the generator, provide transport for patient referrals, and prioritise staffing for the new maternity unit when it opens. 

While he welcomed recent improvements in overall staffing ratios, Kanyengo said that without a stationed doctor, the centre will continue to rely on outreach visits, which undermine continuity of care.

Kavango West Regional Health Director Fransiska Hamutenya acknowledged the problem and pointed to human resources and budget constraints as the main obstacles.

-Nampa